Overall, I've been extremely impressed with the variety of players I've met on the Prime Time Programming forums. Everyone makes entertaining small talk during the games, from the usual age/location/job chit-chat, to deeper subjects like politics and the future of online gaming. There's a lot of laughing and joking around, but it never feels mean-spirited in any way. Sure, there's some goodnatured smack-talking going on, but it's all in fun. I've always been a fan of Xbox Live, but I've never really felt like I was part of a community. Now, finally, I feel like I belong.
Campers Go Home!
There's been a lot of talk recently about the proliferation of low-down and dirty spawn campers in Ubisoft's Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow. For anyone who doesn't know, a spawn camper is someone who sits by an opponent's spawn site, killing anyone who happens to pop up in front of them. There's nothing worse than getting shot by an opponent somewhere in the level, then getting killed repeatedly before you even have time to move away. It's been happening far too much in the game, and people are really starting to get pissed off. While some players have no problem murdering a spawn-camping teammate, most just let it happen (although, they might not even know it's going on) in an effort to win the game.
Thankfully, Ubisoft addressed the issue this week on RainbowSix3.com, announcing that they are planning on releasing a patch in the near future. While they haven't figured out exactly what they're going to do, they did say "the idea receiving the most favor by the development team is to incorporate a timed invulnerability period for a player when they respawn." This seems like the best solution for nearly all of the gamers I've spoken to, as well, provided there's a caveat that either won't let the spawned player fire his weapon, or will take away the invulnerability when he does. It'll be interesting to see what Ubisoft ends up doing, but it's nice to know that they're listening to their fans.
Well, that about does it for my second Xbox Live column. I got a lot of great feedback from everyone last time, as well as some invitations to play online. I've taken a couple of readers on in a variety of games, and while I've won a few and lost a few, I always had a great time. So, if you're game, drop me a line, let me know what you think of the column, and give me your gamertag. I'll be waiting...
[My So-Called Live is written by Will Tuttle, who isn't afraid to put a bullet in the head of a spawn-camping teammate.]
Have any questions? Feel like challenging me to a game online? Any topics you'd like to suggest for future columns? Drop me a line! I promise I'll write back if you're nice. Or even if you're not.
